Bizarre Twist in Million-Dollar Mega-Closet Robbery

A person who claims to be the man caught on camera ransacking the three-story closet of a Texas socialite says some of the estimated $1 million in items he allegedly stole are fakes.

The alleged thief made the claims in a voice-modulated call reportedly made to the Houston Press on Aug. 12, less than two weeks after the burglary at the home of Texas socialite and millionaire Theresa Roemer, according to Press reporter Craig Malisow.

“You know, I asked this person, ‘How can they prove that they really were the burglar?’” Malisow told ABC News.

The self-proclaimed burglar told Malisow that he would send the reporter samples of the items he allegedly stole from the closet of Roemer, who had given “Good Morning America” a tour of her closet just over one week before the break-in.

In the segment, which aired July 23, Roemer, an entrepreneur, said the closet itself cost about $500,000 to build. It has a beauty station and champagne bar, and Roemer holds fundraisers inside the closet.

Malisow says the items he received at the Houston Press offices Friday, in an envelope with no return address, included a watch, a bracelet and a silver locket containing a lock of hair.

The self-identified thief reportedly told Malisow in the recorded phone conversation, “I contacted Theresa Roemer and explained to her that her items were fake," Malisow wrote Friday in the Houston Press. "I requested over half a million dollars to return her items and not expose her to the news. During the meet, it seemed as if she contacted authorities. The deal never went through. I'm following through with my threat."

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to ABC News that some of the items sent to the Houston Press were stolen from Roemer’s closet.

Roemer told ABC News she has not seen the items sent to Malisow and has no idea whether they are really her items. She does say, however, that the items she says were taken from her closet are real and not fakes.

“He thinks he’s smart … the prison is full of smart people,” Roemer told ABC News. “Because sooner or later they mess up.”

Malisow reported in the Houston Press Friday that he turned the items sent to him by the alleged thief to a detective with the local sheriff's office. He went on to say that when he reached Roemer Friday, to inform her he had her alleged items, she directed all calls to police.

Local police did not reply to ABC News' request for comment as of this writing.

Video of the burglary, released earlier this month, shows the intruder entering the 3,000-square-foot closet as if on a shopping spree. The burglar can be seen heading directly for the designer handbags, carelessly tossing papers onto the floor. At one point, the burglar even climbs the shelves to get to the priciest items.

At the time of the robbery, Roemer, a former beauty queen, said the stolen handbags were Birkin travel bags.

She said each of the three bags, from luxury designer Hermès, cost $60,000. Also swiped were 10 Rolex watches and between 10 and 12 Cartier watches, she said.

Investigators say the intruder used a glass cutter to cut a hole inside a bathroom window at the back of Roemer’s home while she and her husband were out having dinner at the neighborhood country club.